Happy Tuesday sports fans! Big day in the Palouse as the Cougs get set to play in Madison Square Garden tonight in the NIT semifinal against the Wichita State Shockers. I know almost nothing about Wichita State, but did a little research to find out who exactly the Cougs will be playing in just a few short hours.
A few interesting facts that I found out about them:
This is their 12th appearance in the NIT, and the first time they’ve advanced to the semifinals
They have appeared in the NCAA tournament 8 times, with one Final Four appearance in 1965
Their last NCAA appearance was 2006, and they lost in the Sweet Sixteen to that year’s tournament darling George Mason
They lost to this year’s tournament darling VCU, 68 – 67 this year at home on February 18th
They came in 2nd in the Missouri Valley Conference this year
Their leading scorer is a 6-8 center averaging 11.4 points a game
The Shockers have 10 players who played at least 32 of the teams 35 games this year
They have the 43rd best field goal percentage in the nation with .464
So put it all together and this is a team that puts up 72 points a game using a balanced offensive attack. The Shockers are playing in the postseason for the 3rd straight year, and just like the Cougs will be looking to continue the ride for one more game. I look for a back and forth game that will be tightly contested all night. The key matchup to me will be DeAngelo Casto against the Shockers leading scorer J.T. Durley. That should be a fun one to watch all game long, and one that could decide the outcome of this game.
As a Coug fan I’m looking forward to one more game tonight, and hopefully another on Thursday. For my prediction I’ll take the Cougs 77 – 71. Enjoy the game everyone, and Go Cougs!
Bryan – analyst
67C: A Northwest Sports Blog 